A View From Backstage
by AlyssahLovesEdward
Summary: What if Bella had a sister? A twin? Someone who got to view her life from a different perspective? My name’s Zarah and this is the story that was never told. Rated T because Twilight is rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**A View from Backstage**

_**Summary: What if Bella had a sister? A twin? Someone who got to view her life from a different perspective? My name's Zarah and this is the story that was never told.**_

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**Disclaimer:**

**What I do own: Zarah and Benny the Cat**

**What I don't own: Twilight :( **

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**Chapter One – Left Behind**

I watched through the car window as Bella and our Mom walked into the airport. The reason she was leaving didn't make complete sense; but that's just Bella. I would miss her, of course I would, she's my twin but I felt angry that she was leaving me behind.

Bella was going to live with our Dad, Charlie. He lives in a three bed roomed house **(A/N at bottom) **which he bought when Bella and I were born. She had made the decision to leave Arizona and go to Forks so that Mom could go travelling with Phil. What annoyed me is that if I didn't go, Mom still couldn't go which meant that Bella had expected me to just go with her without even asking me if I wanted to go first. What's strange about my decision not to go is that while Bella hates Forks, I love it. I love the rain and that everything is a lush green. I loved visiting Forks during the holidays until Bella decided that she didn't want to go anymore. Charlie had to visit us after that so I haven't been to Forks in about 3 or 4 years.

I can understand Bella's reasons and why she would expect me to go with her. This was for Mom so I was the selfish one. I even started to regret my decision to stay with Mom. You know that feeling you get when you know it's too late to change your mind and you've made the wrong choice? That's the feeling I was getting.

Phil looked at me through the mirror with a half-hearted smile. I sighed and looked out the window, desperate for Mom to come back into sight so that we could go home. I couldn't wait for the safety of my room so that I could be miserable in private.

As Mom got back in the car, I saw a single droplet of salt water spill over from her eyes as she held Phil's hand. The rest of the journey home was a silent one.

The next couple of days were filled with awkward silences and references to Bella. Mom had been emailing her and I know that neither she nor Bella had mentioned me. Mom had always had a special little place in her heart for Bella. Bella was responsible and quiet; she never went to parties or was too busy for her Mom because she was going out with friends. She was a shy, polite person who acted like a middle-aged woman. She kept Mom out of trouble as best as she could and still had time to do shopping, pay the bills and do homework. Everybody loved Bella.

I had never before been jealous of Bella. Why should I be? We both had long, chocolate brown hair – although mine was curly while hers was straight. We both had dad's big eyes although hers were a warm chocolaty color like her hair while mine were an icy blue (odd combination with the hair, I know). I sometimes tanned, whereas Bella never did. We were both clever, although I got Calculus while she didn't. I was athletic, she was clumsy. I am confident around people, although I am usually blushing. She shied away from people and hid behind her hair. She had a couple of friends whereas I was friends with everyone. I had nothing to be jealous about – except maybe her height. She's not even that tall at 5"4 but that's better than being 5 ft tall like me. Despite everything, I am jealous. Mom adores Bella, they're best friends. They'll sit and talk for hours about completely random stuff. She got Phil to explain baseball to her and so he grew to love her as Mom did. Even with Dad, she's always the daughter he was closer too.

Maybe I'm being paranoid, I don't know. Most likely, but I can't help it. It's who I am.

One morning, about a month after Bella had gone to Forks, I was sitting outside on a little sun chair, admiring the clear blue sky when Mom came outside. I tried to hold back my laughter when I saw her. She was in a bright green towel and her hair was exactly the same color.

"Zarah! What did I do? I left it on the right amount of time, please help me." I got up out of the chair and followed her to the bathroom where she had done it.

"How long did you leave it on for?" I asked her, examining the dye box for anything that would tell me how it happened.

"Forty minutes, it said that long if you've already dyed your hair."

"Mom! It says _don't_ dye your hair if it's already dyed! This is why you should get it done professionally."

She took the box out of my hands and threw it into the trash. She started to pick her fingernails nervously.

"You know I can't afford it while Phil's away. If I was with him maybe, but not now. What am I gonna do? I can't go to work with green hair."

I felt that familiar instant bomb of guilt hit me when she said this. Anytime she brings up Phil travelling I can see how much she wants to go and how much she misses him when he's away and I feel awful and selfish. I smiled sympathetically at her and went to my room to get my laptop out. Mom went downstairs and started to do the cleaning.

For the first time since she'd left, I read all the emails Bella had sent me. A lot contained news of some boy she liked. There was one about Jacob, an old friend of ours from a reservation near Forks. I was glad to hear that he remembered me. Once I read the last one (something about going to dinner with this boy), I started to email her.

_Bella, _

_Sorry I haven't emailed you yet. Been a little busy with my new role as a middle-aged teen. I suck at it. Missing you loads. Yes, I remember Jacob. Who is this boy? Is he cute? Are you being safe? _**(A/N2: Down at bottom) **_I know I said I wouldn't move to Forks but Mom needs to go travel with Phil. You were right. Do you think you could ask Dad if I could move in? I'll talk to Mom about it once I get your reply. _

_Is it raining in Forks? Is it still as green as it used to be? I have a million more questions but I couldn't ask them all now. See you soon possibly!_

_Zarah x_

I thought about what I was doing as I sat in the too small chair. I knew it was the right thing to do, it had just taken me some time to actually do it. Shutting off the computer, I went downstairs into the kitchen where Mom was singing, loudly and out of tune. It was a happy picture, one I knew I would not see for a long time, not if I moved to Forks. I grabbed a cloth from the cupboard and started to wash down the sides. Mom immediately stopped what she was doing.

"Are you okay? Since when do you do housework?"

I shrugged and got back to work. I wasn't sure of the answer myself. Mom grinned widely.

"Oh well, I guess I'd better make the most of it hadn't I?"

That statement was so true it was unbelievable.

I didn't get a reply from Bella until the next day. She said that Charlie was extremely happy to hear that his other daughter was coming to live with him. I found out the boy that she likes is called Edward and apparently he is unbelievably good looking. I don't think she's gone too far with him yet since most of my questions remain unanswered. As expected, everything is bright and green in Forks and it _is_ raining.

Unfortunately, now that I had gotten approval from Dad, I now needed to tell Mom. Although, she would probably be happy about it because then she could go with Phil. I waited until after dinner before telling her.

"Mom, there's something I want to tell you."

She turned the TV off and swivelled her whole body round to face me. No distractions.

"I've asked Dad already and err...I'm...err..."

"Moving to Forks? Charlie already rang me about it; I just wanted to wait for you to tell me. Of course it's okay!"

She grabbed me into a huge hug and squeezed too tight.

"Mom! Can't breathe!" She quickly let go and apologized. Her eyes were so bright they practically sparkled with happiness. I knew that it wasn't because she wanted to get rid of me. It was because she could be with Phil. "At least you can get your hair sorted out now!" I joked and she laughed loudly. She asked me something but I wasn't concentrating. I was moving to Forks. It was really happening and as nervous as I was, I couldn't wait.

Goodbye crunchy gravel and barbed wire fences.

Goodbye cacti, the only plants managing to survive here.

Goodbye blistering heat, so hot that water fizzles and it touches the ground.

Goodbye Phoenix, Arizona.

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**A/N: I know that Charlie brought a two bedroom house but that was when there was only Bella. Now there is a twin sister he's decided he needed a three bedroom house instead.**

**A/N2: I couldn't resist saying that since you won't get it from Renee in this story.**

**Please Review, without reviews I have no motivation to carry on. I don't just want one review either (I sound a bitch here but I never get many), if there's something you like or something you don't like, something I could improve on, maybe something you want to see in the story, ANYTHING! Tell me in a review and I will work on it! I just love reviews so much!**

**Thanks a lot readers. X**


	2. Chapter 2

**A View from Backstage**

_**Summary: What if Bella had a sister? A twin? Someone who got to view her life from a different perspective? My name's Zarah and this is the story that was never told.**_

**Disclaimer:**

**I don't want to say it. I don't like it. Fine I'll say it.**

**Idonotowntwilight....there! **

**But I do own Zarah and Benny the Cat and (dun-dun-dun) Josh.**

**Chapter Two: Slightly Dysfunctional Beginnings **

I set out of the house much like Bella, with only a small bag of clothes. I'd had to sort out my clothes as well because most of them were too warm for Arizona. Mom didn't want to have to make Dad pay for two wardrobes since we were moving there for her, so she handed me some money to put in my purse. I was glad to have any excuse to go shopping, unlike my strange sister.

At the airport, Mom started to cry.

"I can stay here, you don't have to go. I know you didn't want to leave." She said and I could tell she'd already said all this to Bella.

"Mom, I love Forks, you know I do. I didn't want to leave because I felt pressured to leave. You need to be with Phil and that means I have to go to Forks." She seemed almost relieved when I said this. I think she was glad to see that unlike Bella, I was actually happy to go. I wasn't going just because it was the right thing to do, I was happy to do it as well. I gave her one last hug before running through the terminal to get onto my flight. I was by a window but unfortunately, ended up next to some man throwing up the whole way there. God it made me want to be sick. I got up numerous times and just sat in the toilet, not that that was much better. It stunk. But at least I didn't want to steal a man's sick bag and use it for myself. At that moment in time, I was sitting down by the man who had fallen asleep watching a film. I used this time to relax, looking out the window, listening to music.

_Ladies and Gentleman, we are now preparing to land. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts._

I fastened my seatbelt and waited to meet whoever was picking me up. It would probably be Dad, unless he got Bella a car. Not that he could afford a very good one; it would have to be old and cheap. If that's the case I will save up for a car. It might take me a while but I can do it. Maybe. Probably not.

I was right about Bella. On arriving at the airport, she was standing there waiting for me. As soon as she saw me she grinned and ran towards me.

"Zarah! I'm so happy you're here! It's been strange not having you around." We caught up on how we've been. She told me about Forks high school and the people she's friends with. She told me about how she knows a girl smaller than me our age called Alice but she hasn't really talked to her yet. She explained about how she met Edward and that he's a little different to most people. I wondered what she meant by different. The way she said it made it sound like there was a hidden meaning to it. She had been given a truck by Dad. A red Chevy. Not my type of car at all but it's perfect for Bella. It was warm inside and the heater worked. We even listened to the radio.

"So, how old is this thing? Like a hundred?" I asked, quite bluntly too. Not that I cared about that. I never really have, I say what I think. Generally it gets me into quite a bit of trouble but I usually talk my way out of it.

"Are you picking on my baby?" She exclaimed, pretending to be shocked although she did seem fiercely protective of it, which is weird. Because it's a truck.

"Your baby? How old does that make you?!How old does that make me?!" She laughed; I can't ever make any age jokes with my sibling. It's unfair.

"I'm just 17 thanks, and I plan on staying that way."

"I don't, I plan on getting out of high school." I replied to which she laughed, but it wasn't an outwards laugh – if there is such a thing. It was more like a laugh to herself. Maybe I'd said something I'd missed.

She parked in the driveway and I saw the curtains twitch. Dad was waiting for us to come home. As soon as I walked in I received an awkward hug from him, what made it worse was that I hit him with my suitcase. Not good. The house had not changed since I had last seen it. Everything was the same – even that stupid tatty old couch I'd been trying to convince him to get rid of when I was about twelve years old. Dad just doesn't _do_ change. Too bad for him because I do.

"Zarah, I've missed you. Let's get your stuff up to your room. Wow, you kids don't have many clothes do you? Do you need some money to go shopping?" He said this really fast and in one breath. I could only assume this is what he said.

"I'm alright thanks; Mom gave me some before I left." Bella frowned once I said this. Maybe she thought that Mom was favouring me or maybe I shouldn't have taken the money. But I agree with Mom to a certain extent. I took my stuff up to my old room to see someone else's stuff in it. Not just anybody's stuff. Bella's stuff. I guess I couldn't keep a hold on a room but seeing as it was mine for the first 14 years of my life I did kind of hope that I could keep it but Bella did move here first so I guess she gets first choice. Although her bedroom was better than mine. It had that balcony with the little iron table and chairs. It was bigger, and it had the bigger closet. It had the extra window as well since it is the corner bedroom, so why did Bella choose the little bedroom with the little window with the view being...a tree? I realized after just standing in the doorway of my old bedroom that I was being an idiot. I was getting the better deal here, why was I complaining? I ran to my new room which had loads of space and collapsed onto the bed. Being super tired, I fell straight to sleep but did have a rather odd dream. Can't remember what it was about exactly, but still.

I found out the next morning that Charlie had already gotten me enrolled at Forks high school. I wasn't exactly sure what everyone usually wore here. In Phoenix the girls always wore weird little tops and shorts; it was so hot everyone wore that. Here it's so cold. Before we had to go, Bella grabbed a pair of jeans out of the closet and told me to find a top and whatever shoes I wanted. I grabbed my favourite 'Go Heart Your Own City' T-shirt and red ankle boots with the buckles **(A/N:at the bottom)**. I chucked on my grey coat and ran downstairs. Bella was leaning against the side eating a granola bar. I hate those things, they taste like cardboard. She looked up at me and smiled, there was something on her mind. I got a glass out of the cupboard slowly and poured myself some orange juice, feeling her eyes on me the whole time. She wanted to tell me something.

"Errmm, I'm not driving to school today so would you mind driving yourself. You can use my truck. I mean, I'll go with you if you want but I mean..." I saw the look on her face as she said the last bit. She was going to school with someone else. Edward probably. This meant I had to go to my first day of school alone. I was just glad I had learnt how to drive or she'd have had to drive me, Edward or no Edward.

"If you've got plans then just tell me. I'm the same age as you, you know, so I can cope. You don't have to baby me." She rolled her eyes and hugged me.

"I've missed your confidence. Thank you." I laughed and heard someone drive up the road. I ran to the window and saw, what looked like a God. Tall, pale, floppy bronze hair and chiselled jaw, all on one guy. Wow. I grabbed Bella's truck keys and my bag and opened the door. Edward immediately smiled and waved. I was glad he didn't make any jokes about Bella shrinking 4 inches and getting blue contacts.

"Hello Edward." I smiled and he raised an eyebrow.

"Please, like you didn't know Bella would tell me about you." I got into the truck and mouthed 'he's hot!' to Bella as she walked out the door. Driving away, I was quite disappointed that trying to go anywhere near 55mph was pointless. I practically crawled down the road to school, noticing that all the older cars – except two cars one being a shiny Volvo belonging to Edward and another rather expensive looking red convertible – were going in the same direction. They were all going to school. I parked in the nearest parking space to a building. Getting out of the truck, I turned around to see a blond boy standing in front of me. He frowned as soon as he saw me.

"Bella?"

"No, Bella's sister. We're twins. I'm Zarah," I smiled and stuck my hand out. He took it and smiled back, cute in a preppy kind of way. **(A/N2 at the bottom)**

"I could have guessed the twin thing myself. I'm Mike; do you know where you're going? I could help you."

I looked round to see if Bella was anywhere and saw she was standing talking to Edward. I would have gone over but if Mike was willing to take me to the office or wherever I was supposed to go then fine by me.

"Not exactly, could you take me to the office? I think that's where Bella said I had to go." We started walking in and I noticed that even inside the building, there were plants everywhere. Mike's eyes glazed over like he was day dreaming or concentrating on something else entirely and they tightened just before he started speaking.

"So how come Bella isn't helping you herself? It's not like her to just leave someone like that, especially not you, you're her family."

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but she's a bit preoccupied at the moment." He frowned and looked down at the ground.

"Oh yeah, that. But isn't a sister more important than some guy? He's really weird too. I tried telling her this but she just laughed, he looks at her as though she's something to eat." I thought about it for a moment and decided to check that theory out for myself. If Mike was right, maybe she would listen to me. "Well, we're here. I've got to get to my lesson now but there's a spare place at our table at lunch if you need somewhere to sit. See ya!" He said before turning round and leaving. I walked into a small little office which looked rather disorganised. A woman was standing by the phone, talking down the other end. When she turned to look at me, she almost dropped the phone. It was Mrs Cope. I remembered her; she used to run a toy shop until it got closed down about 5 years ago. I always used to go in there every holiday and she'd comment on how I'd grown and give me a piece of candy.

"Zarah, hello sweetheart! I haven't seen you in years! You've grown so much; you're a young woman now. I haven't got any candy for you but I do have your class schedule." She handed me a piece of paper and a slip of paper for the teachers to sign. I had to go to English in building 1 now. She took me to my lesson and told me that she'd already asked the teacher to assign her someone to take her to her lessons. I thanked her and walked in without knocking on the door. I waited by the door until the teacher stopped talking and looked round; everyone else stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I blushed but didn't look down. I walked up to the teacher and handed him the slip. He looked like he'd just sucked on a lemon.

"Oh, new girl. Well stand here please," he gestured towards a spot in front of the class, "and tell us five facts about yourself." I did as he asked and looked back at everyone else to see where I would be sitting while I told them my facts.

"My name is Zarah, I have a twin sister called Bella and she came to this school about a month ago. I love cats, the rain and the cold. I used to come here for the holidays until I was 14."

I noticed that when I talked about Bella, a certain boy went rigid like I'd just announced that I'd run over his cat. The space next to him was also the only space in the class.

"Well Zarah, thanks for disrupting my lesson now please go sit next to Josh." He need not have pointed; it was obvious who it was. Josh reminded me of Edward. He had pale skin and strange purple bags under his eyes, a similar chiselled jaw but he had short blonde hair. His eyes were a strange gold color – not normal. I sat next to him and the teacher – whose name was not known to me at the time – started talking again.

"I should have realized." Josh said while I was copying notes down from the board. I turned to him with an obviously confused look on my face. "That you were Bella's sister. I should have realized the moment I saw you. You look so alike and Edward tells me that she talks about you a lot." I smiled at this piece of information. Besides the fact that that – in its own special way – is a compliment because Bella is so pretty, it was nice to know that Bella had talked about me a lot. I was _not _one of those embarrassing relatives that you never want to tell anybody about. Good to know.

"How do you know Edward?" I asked him, intrigued since I noticed that when I was looking at Bella and Edward talking this morning, there was a _huge _circle of space around them which people avoided. That was strange. Bella isn't the type of person you would see in the street and be scared to walk past so it must be Edward. Mike didn't seem to like him either. Although that could be jealousy, not having been here I don't know the situation, which is annoying.

"He's my brother." He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but Edward doesn't stop talking about Bella. You can't get him to shut up. We're all desperate to find the off switch and just meet her." I wondered why Josh wouldn't have met Bella yet, they both go to the same school and she's obviously a bit o_bsessed_ with Edward. Why wouldn't she have met Edward's brothers and sisters? Very odd.

"So I hear that there's another junior smaller than me?" I decided to change the subject since I needed to distract myself from asking him about Bella's personal life, which she would not like at all. Especially not with someone she hasn't met yet.

"Yeah. That's probably Alice, she's 4"9 but she's tough. I wouldn't mess with her." He winked and laughed and the teacher glared from his desk. We both worked in silence after that seeing as we didn't want more evils from the teacher than we were already getting. After a while, I discovered that I had English Lit and Biology with Josh. I also have Biology with Bella and Edward. I walked into the cafeteria alone and saw Mike from the doorway. He waved madly until I waved back and went to take a seat next to him.

"Everyone, this is Zarah, Bella's sister. I invited her so be nice." I noticed that he directed this straight at a blonde girl who did not look happy. I decided not to say anything about this since I didn't want to make enemies on the first day of school. I looked round the room to see that Josh was sitting with a group of people I had to assume were his brothers and sisters. He caught me staring and grinned at me. I smiled back and then he went back to his conversation with Alice. I could tell it was Alice because she was the small one. All five of the people sitting at that table were slightly strange. All pale, beautiful and not eating anything. They all had those gold eyes in slightly different shades. In fact, every single one of them had different features, but they all looked similar. I didn't think that that was even possible. I scanned the room for Bella and saw that she was at a table at the other end of the room with Edward. They were just chatting quite comfortably. Bella seemed extremely happy. I turned my attention back to my table so I could learn a few people's names.

"Hi, I'm Jessica. These people are Tyler, Angela, Ben, Eric and Lauren." A girl sitting next to Lauren – the girl who was giving me creepy stares from time to time – introduced everyone and I smiled and waved before taking a mouthful of pasta.

The rest of my lessons were a bit of a blur and by the end of school, I couldn't wait to get home. It had been rather uneventful, except for meeting some new people and realizing that I had forgotten to check out whether Edward looks at Bella like a piece of meat. Oh well, there was always tomorrow.

**Thank you to my reviewers,**

**vampyregurl09, (I love you), cazares.a, (You can have a trillion e-hugs) and kelso, (who I've decided is awesome with awesome crammed into that awesomeness)**

**A/N: The outfit that Zarah wore for her first day of school will be on the profile so you can take a look if you want. If you don't want to, that's also fine.**

**A/N2: Yes, Zarah did say that Mike was cute but she doesn't know that he's really annoying and he isn't described as ugly in the book so why the hell not? ;)**

**Please review, review, review, review! I love reviews! I'm mad for them! They make me upload chapters quicker! Like this one! There is a lot of exclamation marks in this! Next Chapter possibly won't be up for two weeks because I'm going on holiday! But if I get lots of reviews soon then I will upload another chapter tomorrow!! OOOHHH exciting! So review! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A View from Backstage**

_**Summary: What if Bella had a sister? A twin? Someone who got to view her life from a different perspective? My name's Zarah and this is the story that was never told.**_

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**Disclaimer:**

**I don't like it, but I don't and never will own Twilight. However I do own Zarah, Benny the Cat (he will be a character just so you know) and Josh.**

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**Chapter Three – Stories and Games**

The next few days were spent examining Edward and Bella. Mike was right, every movement Edward made seemed so careful and precise like if he made one wrong move he would kill her and eat her. Doesn't she feel uncomfortable? I mean I think it's strange that I don't feel uncomfortable just watching him look at her that way, but I'm a little bit strange anyway so it doesn't come as much of a surprise to me. Once I decided I had enough evidence to confront her, I sat with Bella and tried to argue my point. It was about 11pm and Dad was asleep. Bella looked like she had somewhere to be the whole time..._Nice_.

"Bells please don't be angry with me, but there's something _odd_ about Edward." She stopped walking round the room and looked at me with a really worried expression on her face.

"What do you mean?" She asked and sat next to me cross-legged on the bed. She kept glancing towards the window and I heard the leaves rustle in the wind as I prepared to tell her what I think she needed to know.

"I know that Mike has already told you this -" her stare became sceptical almost immediately when I mentioned Mike. "But I decided to look for myself and I think he's right. Bella, The way Edward looks at you is _not normal_. It's like he wants to eat you. Even weirder – it doesn't seem to bother me like it should." Bella seemed to be holding back a giggle.

"I don't feel weird around him either; it must be our twin connection!" She waved her hands in my face trying to do a spooky voice as she said 'twin connection'. She was trying to distract me and it was not going to work.

"Bella, seriously. Most people avoid going near him like he's some kind of evil being and apparently he won't let you meet his brothers and sisters and they go to the same school as you! That's not normal." Her voice became grave and solemn, so quiet I could barely hear it.

"I told you he was different to most people." Her face was hidden in her hair and I didn't have to look to know that she was blushing. She was not going to listen to me at all. Which, to be completely honest, annoyed me a lot. She could have just sort have been more aware when around him, more careful. "Look, it's late. I'm going to sleep so _you_, my dear, are going to have to go away." She smiled and hit me with a cushion. I said goodnight and went to my own room. As I lie in my own bed silently, I found that trying to sleep was impossible. I tried to concentrate on sounds that relax me like the drumming rain when I heard a sound from Bella's room. It wouldn't normally bother me, she talks in her sleep but that voice did not belong to Bella. I crept up to her door and pressed one ear to it.

"You can hear her outside? Quick, go wait in the closet. No don't leave me." I heard Bella say and without hesitation I forced her door open, it didn't slam against the wall like I would have liked for a dramatic entrance but I didn't really want to wake Dad up at this time in the morning.

"So that's why you wanted the bedroom with the tree outside? Good at climbing is he?" I said and Bella ignored me, pretending to be asleep. I can't believe she thought I would believe that. I pretended that I had made a mistake and crept up to right outside her closet.

"Bella? Are you awake?" I asked and then in a smaller voice to make it sound like I was muttering to myself "I must be imagining things." I went back into my bedroom and pressed my ear right up to the very thin walls. I knew the exact spot where I would hear everything the best.

"Did she buy it?" I heard Bella ask in a whisper.

"I don't know, apparently neither of the Swan girls like it when I try to read their mind." Edward said, he wasn't whispering but he managed to get his voice so low that I could barely hear it.

"What? You mean she's the same?" In an almost shocked voice this time. God Bella, we are (almost) identical twins, it shouldn't come to that much of a shock.

"No," oh okay, we were both wrong then. "But similar, it's like I can hear a tiny little mumble but when I try and concentrate on it I end up listening to my own thoughts. It's a strange feeling and I can't control it, I think she's doing it." There was silence and I lay there shocked. I was right about Edward, he's really weird. He can read peoples thoughts, except, apparently, Bella and I. I can't believe Bella knows about this and made me believe that she was just ignorant. Why would she do that? She's hardly in love with him; she's known him for about a month. No-one falls in actual love within a month of knowing someone. Then to top it all off, she pretends to be asleep when she knows I heard something, making me "believe" that I was hearing things. Thanks Bella, I love you too.

The next morning was a Saturday, no school thank God. Dad was going fishing and then had an afternoon shift at work so I wasn't going to see him. Bella was busy spending her time doing the housework and homework. I had no intention of doing that. I think that a little interrogation is in order. I walked into the kitchen where she was doing the washing up.

"You know, I think we should take it in turns to do chores? We are twins; we share everything, birthdays, secreetts..." I trailed off at the end and Bella started to look uncomfortable.

"I mean why should you have to do all the work? I mean I can't cook but still...It's unfair on you. Just like it would be unfair for one of us to lie to the other and make that person feel like they were going insane..." She nodded the whole way through and put down the washing up sponge.

"Okay, well then you can do the dishes while I do the washing." She walked off smiling and I groaned. This approach was pathetic, why does anyone bother with the subtle approach? It just doesn't get you anywhere! I followed Bella upstairs where she started to get the bed sheets off the beds. "You know, I've already brought down any washing up." She said and carried on with what she was doing without looking at me. That was it, I prefer my way of doing things.

"I know you lied to me last night. Edward _was_ in your room. I heard him and I was _not_ imagining things before you try and pin that on me." I stated and she sighed and flopped down onto my bed.

"I thought you were going to help me with chores, _this _isn't helping." She pointed at me and then her and went back to work. Damn, it seems like no approach is going to work with Bella. She's in a, I-am-no-good-at-lying-so-I'm-going-to-avoid-the-question mood. I know I just made that mood up, she's never had that before but it seems appropriate.

"Don't change the subject! Answer the question." I said in a kind of shrill voice, I was fed up of her avoiding it already and I'd only just started!

"You didn't ask me a question!" She sounded a bit irritated but I didn't want to leave it there. I should wait until she's not so busy but I can't really be bothered. I wanted to know now.

"You know what I mean. Admit you've lied to me, Edward was in your room last night and that you know what makes him so different." She sighed.

"Fine, you know what? Yes I lied and pretended I was asleep when you came in last night, Edward was in my room last night and yes I know why he's different to most guys. We're not doing anything we shouldn't be, just sitting talking so what you gonna do about it? Tell Dad?" She walked off and I was left a little speechless. Bella had never talked to me like that before. It was strange to see her so confident to stand up to me when annoyed.

If I wanted to get back into her good books then I was going to have to stay out of her way and do something helpful. I went back to doing the dishes and when I was done I grabbed the food money from the jar and wrote a note.

_Sorry about Earlier. Gone shopping, I know what we need, borrowed your truck._

_Z _

I grabbed my bag and Bella's keys. As I closed the door I saw a boy who looked a bit familiar with his black hair and russet skin. He must have been about 15 and smiled once he saw me.

"You moved in! My Dad told me you did but I came to check."

"Jacob!" I remembered him; he was one of my best friends whenever I was here. The two year age difference didn't matter, he was so nice. Bella didn't really make friends with anyone while here because she was so shy, she just sat with Rachel and Rebecca – Jacob's twin sisters a year older than us – while Jacob and I made mud pies. Good times.

I ran up to hug him and he laughed, he was so much taller than me now. I had to jump so that he could hug me back without getting back ache. We were always a pretty similar height until I turned 13 and then stopped growing. I came back a year later and he was about 3 inches taller than me. Now he's about 9 inches taller than me!

"So you haven't grown since you were about 14! Wow." He joked and then looked at me with my bag and keys. "Oh sorry, are you going somewhere?"

I nodded and chucked my bag into the truck.

"Nowhere exciting, I'm going food shopping since I pissed Bella off today and I'm trying to get her to forgive me." I laughed and waited for his response before I got back in the truck.

"Cool, well I'm gonna go see Bella for a bit, if I'm not here when you get back then I'll see you whenever." He waved before I drove off to the store.

Shopping was pretty easy, everything was set out like it was back in Phoenix. The check out girl was way too happy though, she must have had surgery to get her face into a permanent smile. No-one smiles that much all the time and means it. It's not natural. As I got back in the truck to go home, I felt like I was being watched. I didn't see anyone in the parking lot but I guess most stalkers keep themselves hidden.

Jacob was still there when I got home; I might have guessed that he would be. You just had to look at the way he looks at Bella to see he has a crush on her. It's kind of sweet if you watching, if I were her I'd be irritated though. Unlike her, I'd tell him to back off a bit, she'd just put up with it. I'm guessing she doesn't know yet. She'll find out soon enough, it's obvious. You couldn't make it any more obvious unless you put a neon sign above their heads saying 'he likes her' with a giant arrow.

"Hey everyone, I'm back." I said as I came through the door and Jacob took some of the groceries off me and took them into the kitchen. As I went past the living room, Bella smiled at me so I'm guessing that she's okay with me now. Either that or the fact that both Billy and Dad were both in the front room with her and she didn't want them to know that she was annoyed with me.

"So how comes everyone's here?" I said quietly to Jacob who had also decided to help me unpack.

"You have a flat screen TV and Dad wants to watch the game with Charlie. He's acting really weird around Bella though. You should have seen the car her boyfriend Edward drove past in, it's awesome." I laughed at his obsession with cars. He hadn't changed much. He had always loved cars, even as a kid. His dream when we were younger was to be a mechanic, I wonder if that's changed.

"I've seen it, better than most of the cars at school. There's one, his sister has. A red M3 Convertible." I said like it was some huge topic of gossip. Jacob was so easy to be around.

"No way! His family must be rich, who are they?" He asked and went to put a jar in the cupboards; his expression was hilarious when he saw that there was no order to where anything goes. Everything goes everywhere.

"The Cullen's I think." Jacob looked down chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

"My Dad is one superstiscious old man. He believes that they are – well I'm sure Bella's told you everything. Isn't it ridiculous? No wonder he's acting so strangely towards her." He laughed once more before going into the living room with some drinks for Dad and Billy. He had told Bella a little story and she didn't feel like sharing it, what a surprise! Why wouldn't she want to share it with me?

_It's just a story, maybe she forgot about it..._

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**I'd like to thank cazares.a for being the ONLY person to review to my second chapter. I hope for lot's more reviews from people, It's pointless me writing these stories if I don't get feedback. That's what I write my stories on fanfiction for. I'll need quite a few reviews to carry on otherwise I'll just write the stories privately and show them to my friends, leaving three chapters on here, unfinished. This would be a shame, so yeah. Sorry about my little rant, it just annoys me when I spend so much time on a chapter and only get one review. **

**I hope you liked this chapter. If I do get enough reviews to continue I won't be posting another one up for about two weeks since I'm going to be busy with my school work. We're preparing for important exams.**

**x**


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